s2e20: The Long, Twilight Struggle

There is always hope

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Last week my primary complaint was that for all the high stakes reveals in ‘Divided Loyalties’, it doesn’t really amount to much, and the consequences are never felt. That’s not a problem with ‘The Long, Twilight Struggle’, which is perhaps the biggest shake-up to the show since ‘Chrysalis’.

This is a story continually tearing at itself. On the one hand, ‘hope’ is a constant theme throughout the episode, repeated by several characters. On the other, the actual events of the show are about defeat and despair and hopelessness. It’s about holding on by your fingernails, grasping at anything you possibly can in order to just keep going, in the face of impossible odds.

It manages to depict that juxtaposition without betraying either side of the coin. There’s no convenient, last minute rescue for the Narn. There’s no hint at the Centauri having ‘won the battle but not the war’ or similar platitudes: the Narn are entirely defeated, with no caveats. Presumably millions, if not billions die. This is a story about conflict and war, and how one conflict can spiral and multiply. The talk of the ‘coming darkness’ from Delenn implies that the Narn-Centauri war, for all its appalling destruction and loss of life, is but a precursor skirmish. Which is terrifying. On the scale of threat posed by the Shadows, the bombing of the Narn homeworld is the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand.

At the same time, we do get glimmers of hope. Obviously in the final scenes of Sheridan being introduced to the ‘army of light’, but also in Sheridan extending his support — and his hand — to G’Kar. Also in G’Kar’s speech for the ages in the council chambers. There a moment (and direct lines of dialogue) which remind me of Aragorn attempting to comfort the terrified boy prior to the battle of Helm’s Deep:

The sword wielded by the boy appears to be a terrible sword. There will be many deaths in the fighting. Aragorn has been sitting by himself, forlorn, almost giving in to despair. He doesn’t know how to win — but, when prompted by the young boy, he ignores his own worries, and the quality of the sword, and leans in to the concept of hope.

That’s what ‘The Long, Twilight Struggle’ is doing. The situation is hopeless, and awful, and there’s no going back. But to surrender to that would only make it worse. Hope is not a foolish thing: it’s a survival tactic. You might not prevail even if you remain hopeful; but if you relinquish hope, you will most certainly fail.

At the moment of his victory, and the height of his influence and powers, we see Londo at his weakest. He’s unable to say no to Refa, unable to change course. He’s trapped and on a road he doesn’t like but which has no junctions. Of course, he’s had many opportunities to go a different route, but convinced himself otherwise. In many ways, Londo abandoned the concept of hope a long time ago, He’s resigned himself to his fate, and to the necessity of war. The argument between him and Refa near the start of the episode was only ever going to go one way.

There are multiple sequences in this episode that are seared into my brain. The battle at Gorash 7 is one of my favourites in the entire show. The staging is immaculate, the visual effects take another leap forwards, and there’s an imagination to the action that is continually thrilling. There’s a clear geography to the thing, and a pull and push to the space combat, that works brilliantly. The Shadows constantly revealing new powers, the Narn warships working together to actually injure a Shadow vessel, the Shadow swarm fighters, the collapse of the jump points. There are tactics used throughout the battle, rather than just CG spaceship whizzing at each other.

Then there’s the assault on the Narn homeworld, which displays a scale we haven’t really seen on Babylon 5 before. It feels like a huge event, and the visuals rise to the occasion. The slow push in on Londo in the cruiser window, watching aghast, with the reflection of the mass drivers first playing on top of his face, and then the reverse, is inspired. There’s an ambition to the visuals that is off the chart, in terms of what we’ve seen the show attempt previously. It roots a visual effects sequence in the reaction and expressions of Londo, which is a genius move.

Special mention also to Christopher Franke’s music. I think Franke pulls off probably his best score so far in this episode. The Gorash 7 music is perfectly tuned and timed to the edit, atonal and dissonant and leaning as much into horror as it does to science fiction. The destruction of the Narn fleet is made all the more impactful from the music choices: and in particular the unexpected editorial flourish of cutting back to G’Kar in his quarters, praying for an alternative outcome, knowing there will not be one. It’s a stylistic choice that lifts the episode considerably, especially with the sound design dropping to a an ominous background thrum during those shots, before returning to the cacophony and violence of the battle. The excellent score continues through the Narn homeworld bombing scene, and Londo’s own horror.

It’s impressive how much this episode squeezes in, without ever feeling rushed. Given all the bombast, I almost forgot to write about that scene in the council chambers, as Londo reads out the terms of the Narn surrender. Seeing Sheridan stand up and declare Babylon 5 to be a place of sanctuary for G’Kar, and then Delenn rising next to him and placing the Minbari’s protection around G’Kar as well — it’s hugely moving. They’re creatin a shield around the surviving Narn, or at least those on the station. Their governments might not like it, but they’re doing it anyway. The whole time, G’Kar sits, hunched, in the corner of the room, the camera rarely showing him other than in the background. He’s always been a big, charismatic presence, yet in this moment he’s never looked smaller. The most startling moment is Londo’s enraged shout of “NOW!”, a single word that is the nail in the coffin of any good relations he may have had with Sheridan (and Garibaldi, whose glare in the docking bay says everything).

That scene concludes with G’Kar’s speech, which is an all-time great moment in television. It’s a speech that remains as relevant today as ever:

“No dictator, no invader can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever. There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against that power tyrants and dictators cannot stand. The Centauri learned that lesson once. We will teach it to them again. Though it take a thousand years, we will be free.”

It’s a decent declaration as written, but Andreas Katsulas elevates it to a level that I imagine Straczynski hadn’t expected. Everyone is good in this episode, but Katsulas in particular should have won all the awards for his performance here. Same goes for the prosthetic make-up team: much of the episode is shot in close-up, and the Narn make-up is pretty flawless.

Unlike ‘Divided Loyalties’, we can feel that everything has changed. Nothing will be the same again on Babylon 5. There’s only two episodes left of season 2, and there’s a distinct sense that everything is falling apart.

Oh, Draal’s back, too. See? There’s a lot going on.

Next up is ‘Comes the Inquisitor’. Eep.

‼️ SPOILER STUFF ‼️

There’s a huge amount of stuff going on in this episode that is going to resonate for essentially the rest of the entire show.

We get the end of the Narn-Centauri war, and the beginning of the insurgency. As part of that, G’Kar properly begins his journey from antagonistic ambassador to an inspirational leader and semi-religious figure. Londo’s descent is now confirmed: there’s no escaping or going back. At this moment, it’s hard to see how they can possibly end up with a mutual respect, twenty years down the line.

The ‘army of light’ is properly introduced. The connections are all in place now: Delenn, Kosh and Sinclair have been working together, building the Rangers first as a spy network, and now as a possible covert strike force. They will, of course, evolve into a full-on fighting force. Garibaldi’s had some of the pieces, as has Sheridan more recently, but they’re both fully on board now. Curiously, Ivanova and Franklin are not yet part of that inner circle.

This also sets up the ethical conflict that we’ll see in season 3: that they knew about the Shadows, and their connections to the Centauri, but did nothing. G’Kar’s warnings were ignored, even though Delenn and Kosh knew he was right. The Narn homeworld was allowed to fall, in order for the ‘army of light’ to have a fighting chance against the Shadows. Sheridan talked about the bombing of Coventry and Churchill choosing to withhold information, back in ‘In the Shadow of Z’ha’dum’, and that theme will play out again.

The Rangers don’t have actual weaponry yet: that won’t come until the White Star’s reveal in season 3, and it’s eventual rollout as a fleet ship.

Unlike ‘Divided Loyalties’, the show is different after this week’s episode. The political scene is changed, the characters are in different places, and it never goes back to the early season 2 status quo, or the season 1 concept of a diplomatic space station, solving little problems like docker workers’ strikes.